Great shot, as always. Question: Did you chuck the leaves in the water (at the bottom) for the shot? Or were they just fortuitously in the right place at the right time?

Heh, great question. I am absolutely not above staging a shot like that (I have no shame when it comes to photography), but I really did find those leaves just as you see them...with one exception: the small, bright yellow leaf in the upper right corner of the group was placed there by my husband on his own initiative. He stretched over and dropped that one in there while I was shooting, and I thought it worked, so that's what you see in the photo!

AlexH: It wasn't till I looked at your picture twice that I realised why you had named it thus! Interesting looking conqueror!

Phrasikleia: Nice motion trails and I love the moss texture.

This one is from the zoo the other day. These 2 were in the shade for the whole time I was there unfortunately, at the time of this picture I was really hoping that the one on the left would nuzzle or lick the other. It wasn't till I spoke to their keeper when they were fed that I found out they only do that sort of thing to infants.

I do look forward to a new body and glass later on that handles shade much better, but beggars can't be choosers. Considering this is shot through wire and with my basic setup, I'm pretty happy with it!

Beautiful shot of the entrance to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), with the Doge's Palace to the right and the Campanile Belfry. About 50 yards to the left of the belfry is the famous Caffe Florian (nice name!) where Casanova used to frequent. Did you take this shot from Saint George's Church from across the Canal?

With these sort of photo's were there is no obvious horizon line how do you decide how to tilt your camera?

Since I tend to use a tripod, I generally have time to straighten things up. But, yes, in a pic without a horizon I just compose by eye... knowing I have a second chance to make minor changes when editing.

The problem I have is with buildings. I've only got one eye, and I can spend ages trying to make a church spire stand up straight. If I rotate left it looks wrong; if I rotate right it looks no better.